Smidgen Games is officially award-winning!

CUNO has been named a 2025 Sparks Play™ Award Recipient, recognized in the Logic & Reasoning category.

If you’ve played CUNO before, you already get why this feels like such a perfect match: it’s simple to learn, and the perfect game for families to connect around the table. As a customer explained it to me, "Its a great game that wont disrupt conversation around the table." I couldn't have said it better myself.

What is the Sparks Play™ Award?

The Sparks Play™ Awards celebrate toys, games, and books that spark positive play experiences for children and families—the kind of play that helps people connect, think, laugh, and actually enjoy being at the same table.

That mission hits home for us at Smidgen Games. We’re not trying to make games that sit on a shelf and look pretty (although… I do want them to look pretty). We’re trying to make games that get played with families, in classrooms, at breweries, on weeknights, on weekends… wherever people want something social that doesn’t take an hour to set up.

So… what is CUNO?

CUNO is an abstract tile-placement game for 2–4 players where you build a shared layout by placing tiles from your hand to connect rings along the edges. When rings connect, you score points and the scoring ramps based on how big the connection is (yes, connecting multiple rings will give you big results). 

The idea of CUNO is simple:

• You place one tile at a time
• You’re trying to connect half-rings into full rings
• You score based on the size of the completed connection worth 1, 2, 3, and 5 points)
• Whoever gets the highest score, wins

It’s strategic, spatial, and just enough friendly competition that you can block someone’s setup without the game turning into a grudge match (I'm looking at you Bill and Paula 😆).

Why this award makes us extra proud

Sparks Play tags CUNO as great for spatial awareness and critical thinking which is the exact “why” behind the design.

CUNO is one of those games where new players can jump in immediately while experienced players can start seeing patterns with tactical timing. And since the board changes every game, so it feels fresh and new.

Because it’s for ages 8+, it hits that sweet spot where kids can learn real strategy, not just “take-a-turn” gameplay, and adults still stay fully engaged.

A quick “thank you” from me (and from Smidgen)

Huge thanks to Sparks Play™ for recognizing CUNO and shining a light on games that create meaningful, positive play experiences for families. 

And a genuine thank you to everyone who’s picked up CUNO, brought it to game night, taught it to a friend, or told us about that one moment where you connected a monster ring and felt like a genius. You’re the reason we get to keep making these.

Where to get CUNO

CUNO is available now on the Smidgen Games shop.